St.Venera Parish Church

The old church of Santa Venera was given to the Carmelites in 1912.  In the 20th century, as the population of  Santa Venera continued to grow, it became increasingly evident that the old church was too small to meet the needs of the local parishioners. 
Therefore a new church was to be built to the Romanesque Revival designs of Ġużè
Damato. The construction of the new church started in April 1956. After excavation works, the roofing and the balcony were completed by June 1967.
However, construction was stopped due to a lack of funds. Until construction work could be started again, the crypt underneath the church was used as a temporary church. A separate community was established in 1980, and the incomplete building became the parish church on 3 December 1989. After Damato’s death, two architects, Louis A. Naudi and Godwin Aquilina, were commissioned to continue the works.
The original plans with five altars was not in conformity with the Second Vatican Council’s directives, so a new design was created by Ġużeppi Galea.

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The Titular Statue of Santa Venera is the work of Karmenu Mallia in 1919. 
In 2017, the statue was re-gilded by Horace and Kevin Farrugia from Mdina. 
The sculptor Karmenu Mallia known as “il-Lhudi” (meaning “the Jew”) was born in 1880 in Qormi. He was the pupil of the renowned Karlu Darmanin. After Darmanin’s death, Mallia’s popularity grew and he was awarded a number of commissions. In 1915, he sculpted the Titular Statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in St Paul’s Bay. He has also produced a number of statues of Apostles and other saints which can be seen all around Malta. 
Karmenu Mallia passed away in 1930.